We're about to move house (later this week) to a much smaller property, and I've just discovered two big boxes direct from the manufacturer of cassettes of one of my albums. It had seemed such a good idea at the time, to get 1000 CDs and 500 cassettes, but that's when cassettes were a saleable product. There must be at least 200 copies, all beautifully wrapped and packaged. Anyone got any polite and constructive suggestions as to what I could do with them? It seems altogether wrong to just take them down the dump ...

Gee, Anne, I think I'd have to say that the best thing to to is to either give them away at concerts, or take them to the dump and save the storage space. Cassettes are about as useless as 8-track tapes nowadays. Vinyl records still have value, but not cassettes. -Joe-

I have a similar problem with boxes (and boxes!) of good quality blank cassetes that I stocked up on when we (Fleetwood Folk Club, Onward Community Theatre, various plays wot Ron Baxter wrote etc) were actively producing and promoting recordings of local projects. It must be ten years since I copied to tape.

However, my current ten-year-old Volvo still has a working cassette-player, so I may start transferring more stuff once my stock of ready-to-play material is run through.

And I would very much like an Anne Lister cassette! (There, only 199 to go!) I was supposed to play support for a gig you did at the Lane Ends, Wesham, years ago and had to cry off because of a streaming cold/sore throat. I still have a cassette (!) that Eddie Green made through the PA desk to compensate for me missing what everybody said was a great night.

Subject: RE: Tech: What to do with brand new cassettesFrom:AcmeDate: 19 May 12 - 10:18 AM

There may be parts of those cases or tapes that are recyclable. Try googling "recycle cassette tapes" in your area and see what results you get. Google give localized results these days, so what I see if I do it is a lot different than what you'll see.

Our local household recycling depot has recently set up a skip for "hard plastic" which seems to cover almost anything that's not bottles or food containers. That would be my very last resort!

Just thought of another box - recorded cassettes that came to me from Alan Bell (Fylde Folk Festival) for audition - all from prospective performers (some of whom did get booked). I suspect this is mainly the reject pile (no names, no pack drill) and extremely variable in quality and style - I wonder if some of these people had actually been to a folk festival. Some were obviously made at home, some were copies of professionally made recordings, one had been recorded from one machine to another via the first machine's speakers - unfortunately the microphone of the second machine also picked up the noise of frying bacon, clinking cutlery etc, as the artist went about making his tea! Although a talented artist, he didn't get a booking.

I'll see if there is any interest at the folk club - I took a similar box of CDs there a few weeks ago which I suspect will constitute raffle (booby?) prizes for a few months.

We've encountered the same problem, with about the same "determination of value" as several have suggested here already.

If you break them open and make enough of a mess of the tapes, they make a nice(?) - if a little unusual - decoration for your Xmas tree (sort of like the alumin(i)um "icecicles" lots of people seem to like, and they're a little easier than the Al stuff to clean up when santy clause goes home. Since you can't likely untangle the mess, one year should be sufficient to justify discard.

About the only thing among our "obsoletes" that we found "useful" was when we discovered that the "storage trays and drawers" originally for the ancient 5" floppies are just about perfect for CDs in jewel boxes. (The floppies, of course, were nearly all unreadable, even when we found a weirdo guy who still had a drive.) A disadvantage of using them "visibly" is they rather suggest you're of "a certain age," but you can always say you inherited them from grandpa.

Ask around, you might find that more people have a tape player than you think.

I have two tape players and nice collection of cassettes. They come in handy, now that the CD player has bought the farm.

A couple months ago, two friends wanted to record some improvoisations, and the quickest way to do it was to plug the mic into the tape player, pop in a cassette and let 'er rip, right there in my living room.

I was in Rome, Italy a couple years ago and bought a portable tape player in a variety store, so tapes seem still to be in use in certain countries.

May try selling them at gigs, will also donate a quantity for fund-raising causes ... still a tad unsure about the recycling, but will look further into it. I still have tape players (and cassette recorders, too) and still listen to some other taped material, and I don't think I'm the only dinosaur. Somewhat staggered to find a couple of websites specialising in selling cassettes and vinyl that had copies of the Anonyma recording "Burnt Feathers" for ridiculous prices - and one that had three of my albums which are still available from me for, again, silly prices. Would be very surprised if they sell any, though!

Have pm'd Ross, but if any other 'Catters would like one they'll be free to a good home for a while at least - although some token gesture towards post and packing would be appreciated!

Anne Should perhaps say that the album concerned is "Root Seed Thorn and Flower".

Subject: RE: Tech: What to do with brand new cassettesFrom:Joe_FDate: 19 May 12 - 05:19 PM

Thru a weird experience, I ended up with many old cassettes with nothing of value on them. Occasionally I use one for temporary recording. But I find that a stack of them, of suitable height & bound together with duct tape, makes a good bookend for useful cassettes & for CDs.

I did an album back 2007 for the cassette-only Sloow Tapes label based in Belgium. Siren Records in Tokyo regularly release exquisite cassette only editions. Cassettes are very cool & last longer than CD-Rs. I've still got 40-year old cassettes that play fine but CD-Rs from 10 years ago are nowt but stony silence.

Just to clarify, the cassettes I have are recorded ones, not blanks. Could those of you who would like a copy from me please let me have your snail mail addresses so that I can get this organised, please? Via pm, of course, or by email